WASHINGTON (CBSDC/AP) — Scientists say NASA is about
to propose major cuts in its exploration of other planets, especially
Mars. And NASA’s former science chief is calling it irrational.

With limited money for science and an over-budget new space
telescope, the space agency essentially had to make a choice in where it
wanted to explore: the neighboring planet or the far-off cosmos.

Mars lost.

Two scientists who were briefed on the 2013 NASA budget that will be
released next week said the space agency is eliminating two proposed
joint missions with Europeans to explore Mars in 2016 and 2018. NASA had
agreed to pay $1.4 billion for those missions. Some Mars missions will
continue, but the fate of future flights is unclear, including the
much-sought flight to return rocks from the red planet.

The two scientists, speaking on condition of anonymity because they
were not authorized to discuss the budget, said the cuts to the Mars
missions are part of a proposed reduction of about $300 million in
NASA’s $1.5 billion planetary science budget. More than $200 million in
those cuts are in the Mars program, they said. The current Mars budget
is $581.7 million.